16 Niagara College Acting for Film and Television students predicted who they think will win in the top 6 categories at this year's Academy Awards (Oscars). The Oscars will air on February 22. This year's awards will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. Early predictions see American Sniper leading the pack in most categories.

By JOEL OPHARDTStaff WriterSaturday nights in St. Catharines are making a comeback.Once a month Mahtay Café, a new focal point to downtown St. Catharines, hosts a comedy show in a relaxed cafe pub environment.Mahtay Café might be turning into an arts and cultural hub for downtown St. Catharines; they support everything over here – music, poetry, inspirational talking and then comedy,” said David Green, host of the monthly Saturday night comedy show. “The type of crowd people get here too, they＊re all university students and intellectuals.”The cafe, downtown on St. Paul Street, will soon be accompanied by the new Downtown Performing Arts Centre, and is part of a growing artistic movement within the region. For comedians like Green the success of the café has helped them ply their craft from the comforts of home turf.“There are a lot of people in the area that message me constantly saying,...

By JAMES MCALPINEStaff WriterThe click is mightier than the sword.For the last decade, eSports has caught the eyes and ears of youth in the world of entertainment. Gradually making its way from across the sea to North America, eSports are quickly becoming one of the largest cultural phenomena in entertainment history.A new medium for competition, it surpasses language and distance barriers, bringing new meaning to the word ‘sport.’“Before eSports, you wouldn’t have thought that something like this, playing video games, as a sport or professionally would at all be considered as competitive or competitive in the eyes of sports,” said Aaron St. Louis, president of the Niagara College Summoners (a local League of Legends club), “You’ve got the NFL (National Football League) and the NBA (National Basketball Association), and now you have eSports,”“It is a large plausibility that it has the capacity to grow even bigger than it already is...

By LUCA GUARDARIStaff WriterDelivering a full-fledged rock concert with dazzling visuals, The Tragically Hip rocked St. Catharines’ Meridian Centre.The venue already saw a sold out show when City and Colour opened the arena in October, but now Niagara residents enjoyed the second big name concert in town with legendary Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip.On tour to celebrate its 1992 classic album, Fully Completely, the Hip played the album in its entirety along with well-known crowd favourites New Orleans Is Sinking, Grace, Too and closing with Little Bones.The crowd was praising the band throughout the entire two-hour concert, with clapping and cheering causing joyous delay between songs.Frontman Gordon Downie energized the crowd with non-stop dancing and prompting them to sing along with him.Downie’s emotion and desire to reach out and touch the crowd was enjoyable to watch, as it showed he would do anything to interact...

JAMIE BURTONColumnist“You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?”The haunting words which beget a morose journey across Termina nearly 15 years ago returned with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D on Feb. 13, alongside Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and the New Nintendo 3DS XL.Majora’s Mask, like its predecessor Ocarina of Time, is a remake of the N64 classic, now portable and looking better than ever. When it was announced last year, it came as no surprise but still managed to captivate gamers’ attention. Pre-orders took flight, and when a special collector’s edition was revealed, it sold out in minutes.The game follows a young Link’s adventure to reclaim the titular mask from the imp, Skull Kid. Using the powers held within masks of his own, Link races against (and through) time to prevent the prankster from sending the moon crashing down. He’s only got 72...

By TORI RUTHERFORDStaff WriterOh Canada Eh?’s new show At the Movies takes its audience on a trip down memory lane, featuring songs made famous by movies from all generations.From Feb. 12 to April 4 guests can experience this all-new show featuring over 50 movie soundtrack anthems from every genre. Guests can choose if they want dinner and a show, or just the show.Returning writer and director Lee Siegel has written over 10 shows for the theatre company with this most recent creation being the biggest.“A couple years ago we did On the Radio, which included over 100 songs but it wasn’t as technical. This one has a lot more dancing and these guys are really working,” said Siegel.The jack of all trades started at the theatre company at age 18 but went on to perform two seasons at the Stratford Festival and in 2012 performed in New York on Broadway...

By JUHYUNG PARKStaff WriterIt’s the night that magic happens. The night film actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes technicians will gather in one place to celebrate and honour the best films from 2014.The 87th Academy Awards, more commonly known as The Oscars, presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), will be held in Hollywood, at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 22.During the celebration, the Academy will present 24 categories of Academy Awards.These will be voted on by members of the Academy, and random actors, directors, production workers, and studio owners from Hollywood.Special performances will highlight the evening.This year Anna Kendrick announced on Feb. 9 that was she invited to the Oscars and will be a part of the on-stage performances, but didn’t specify what that would be.According to The Deadline, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron say it is “something special that is sure to...